Congress threatens legal action over Modi's marital status

April 10, 2014 20:40 IST

Accusing Narendra Modi of misguiding people about his marital status for several years, the Gujarat unit of the Congress threatened to take legal action against him today, for providing false information in the affidavit submitted along with his nomination papers.

"During assembly elections in 2002, 2007 and 2012, Modi hid his marital status by leaving the space blank. Now, in his latest affidavit, he has accepted that he is married to Jashodaben. However, he has provided no further information, such as her PAN card number or her income. It proves that Modi continues to hide facts from the people," Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee president Arjun Modhwadia alleged during a press conference.

"Thus, we will request the Election Commission to cancel his candidature, not only of the Lok Sabha, but also of 2012 assembly elections, for providing false information and misleading people. Furnishing false affidavit is a crime and we are exploring legal action against him," Modhwadia said.

However, Congress legal cell's chairman Pankaj Champaneri, who was also at the press conference did not give any concrete answer about the party's future course of action against Modi.

"In 2003, the Supreme Court gave a verdict that candidature cannot be cancelled merely on the basis of false information furnished in the affidavit, but it is a question of voters' basic right to know everything about their leader," Champaneri said.

Taking the fight to a moral ground, Modhwadia protested against the "most eligible bachelor" tag given to Modi by a Bollywood actress.

"There was a deleberate attempt by Modi to project himself as a 'bachelor' by not revealing that he was already married. On one side he talks about women empowerment, but on the other side, he has dumped his own wife. Modi must resign as Gujarat chief minister for hiding such crucial information," Modhwadia, who was also accompanied Congress spokesperson Ami Yagnik and Viramgam MLA Tejashree Patel, said.

"Though Jasodaben never raised her voice, we wish to know why she was not given her rights as a lawfully wedded wife for more than 40 years. Modi must apologise to the nation for what he has done," Yagnik said.